Stripped and Polished
by finishedwithyou
Summary: For the first time in a long time, it really feels like it's over. BL oneshot, 4x03.


Brooke/Lucas oneshot that takes place after 4x03 'Good News For People Who Love Bad News'. Title and Lyrics come from Secondhand Serenade's 'Your Call'. Enjoy and review! :)

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Stripped and Polished

_'Cause every breath that you will take_

_when you are sitting next to me_

_will bring life into my deepest hopes..._

_'Cause I was born to tell you I love you_

_And I am torn to do what I have to_

The room was silent, only the sound of muffled sobs could be heard every few moments. It didn't matter, though, because Rachel was out cold. She was a heavy sleeper, Brooke had learned in the last couple of weeks. But still, she stuffs her face into the pillow as she cries.

The only other sound is her phone vibrating. For the fourth time, actually. She doesn't bother looking to see who it is. She doesn't want to talk to anybody.

A few moments and tears later, she hears it vibrate again. She picks it up off of the floor, and all she wants to do is throw it against the wall and shut the goddamn thing up. Instead, she flips it open and squints her burning eyes when the light from the screen is suddenly blinding her. '4 missed calls' the screen reads, then, '1 new voicemail.' She dials her voicemail and listens.

_'Brooke... I'm worried. I've called you four times and you're not answering and... I know it's late, and I know you don't wanna talk to me, but I figured you'd atleast answer and give me a bitchy comment or something. Uh... please just call me when you get this. Please. I just wanna know if you're okay. I think I deserve that much. Um, okay... bye.'_

It's Lucas.

He sounds upset. Brooke knows exactly what this is. Why he's calling. He regrets about what he said to her earlier at the party. Or maybe he just feels bad for her. She chooses to believe the former, because she's trying to make herself believe that he didn't mean it, that he was just saying it out of anger when she told him that she wasn't going to fight for him.

_"I guess I was wrong... I'm not the guy for you, Brooke Davis."_

The second those words had left his mouth, she could actually feel her heart aching. But Brooke Davis had never really been one to show emotion, atleast not in front of a group of people. So that's why she made sure to hold it all in until she was alone, minus Rachel. And suddenly, she feels like an _idiot. _Because she's laying in her bed, crying at 3 a.m. over a boy that _she_ broke up with. He tried to make peace, he tried to be her friend. Even though he loves her, and even though she broke up with him, he is willing to be her friend because he needs her in his life. She realizes that he feels exactly how she felt last year after he broke up with her.

She feels her phone vibrate one more time, interrupting her thoughts. This time, it reads '1 new message from: Lucas'. She clicks 'view' and reads over the words atleast ten times before she decides what she is going to do.

_'If you see this, meet me at the rivercourt. Please.'_

--

She's changed out of her Victoria Secret pajamas and into a pair of jeans, a plain black tanktop and her favorite jacket. She stuffs her hands into the pockets as she walks up to the court, staring at him sitting on the picnic table. He's changed into a pair of sweatpants and the grey hoodie that he very rarely wears anymore.

He knows it's her favorite.

He has his head in his hands, and he still hasn't noticed her. She stands a few feet in front of the picnic table, watching him. She feels like she's back in junior year, where she stood in this same spot, telling him that she though she was pregnant with his child. _"We'll do it together." _She shakes off the words he said and continues to watch him as she finally speaks up.

"Hey." She's startled him, she can tell, as his entire body jolts and he removes his head from his hands, staring at her. He looks sad, and he looks guilty, and he looks relieved.

"I didn't think you were gonna come."

She sighs. "Then why are you here?"

"I have just enough hope left, I guess. Why are you?"

"I don't know." She tells him, and she means it. She doesn't.

She takes a deep breath and moves to sit next to him. He's watching her every move as she hops up onto the table and makes sure to keep her distance from him. They sit like this for a while until she finally breaks the not exactly awkward, but not exactly comfortable silence.

"I got your voicemail." She says, staring at her feet.

"Yeah, about that... sorry. I was just worried."

She wants to tell him that he sounds stupid, because it is the middle of the night and she very easily could have been sleeping. She doesn't though, because part of her loves him even more than she'll admit for worrying. "It's fine."

Once again, silence.

"Look, Brooke, about what I said earlier-"

There it is, she thinks. She was right.

"Don't," She whispers as she moves her eyes to his face and she once again sees guilt etched across it. He is feeling guilty because he took back all those words he said to her on the beach merely six months ago. '_One of these nights you're gonna realize it.. I'm the guy for you, Brooke Davis. You'll see.'_

"I didn't mean it."

She shakes her head and scoffs. He can never make up his damn mind.

"You sure about that?"

"Yes."

"You shouldn't say things you don't mean, Lucas." She's disgusted at how hypocritical she sounds.

"I know. But I saw you kissing Peyton's brother and it.. it _killed_ me. And I was so angry. Because tonight, for the first time in a long time, it really felt like it was over."

"It is." She can't even look him in the eye.

"You sure about that?" He echoes the words she said a moment before.

And for the first time in a long time, she lets him see how she's really feeling. "No."

--

"Why did you end things, Brooke?"

She told him that it wasn't about Peyton. She lied. Because somehow everything in their relationship always came down to her best friend. Former, she should say now. And even if she did never want to be friends with Peyton again, she could never _actually_ hate her. She could never rat her out, telling Lucas that she had confessed to Brooke about her feelings and that everything that had happened in the last few weeks was all Peyton's fault. So she lies. She does have an answer for Lucas, she just can't give it to him. She won't.

"The whole 'girl falls in love with boy, boy kisses girl's best friend, girl is completely clueless' thing was getting a little old."

"Damnit, Brooke! It wasn't just you, okay? I was in love with you too. I still am! And you know it." Hearing her say that he's in love with her makes her heart beat faster. She loves him, too, and she should tell him. But she's feeling bitter, and she'd rather be a bitch to him than tell him how she really feels.

"Well, the part about the boy loving the girl back doesn't erase the part where the boy kisses somebody else." She can tell he's getting angrier with every word she says.

"How many times do I have to tell you?! _Peyton_ kissed _me_."

"You let her."

"What the hell was I supposed to do?!" he snaps.

"Oh, I don't know, Lucas, Push her away!? Because that's what people who have girlfriends usually do! When somebody else kisses you, you're not supposed to kiss them back! Then again, you do have a great track record for royally screwing things up as my boyfriend, usually with the help of my best friend. Former, actually. On both accounts." She's hurt him, she can tell as the anger slowly melts away from his face and is replaced with sadness. He stares into her dark green eyes with his bright blue. His eyes are pleading with hers, and he's begging her to forgive him without speaking a single word.

He speaks again, softer this time, "She thought she was gonna die. She was vulnerable, and she was fighting to stay alive. I was scared. So was she. I took care of her. The kiss lasted two seconds. It meant nothing to me, okay? I swear to God. It meant _nothing."_

She's heard this before. She wants to scream at him, tell him that it did, because it always does. But he's heard that before, too. He still doesn't seem to get it, though. So she doesn't say that. Instead, she mutters "Okay."

"Are you ever going to forgive me?"

"I always do." she breathes out.

The next thing she knows, he's grabbing her face and his lips are on hers. Her frustration is suddenly gone as he takes her hand in his. She doesn't pull away. She just kisses him back. It feels good to have him kissing her like this again. He's scooting closer to her, running his free hand through her hair. She can't believe that she's kissing him back after she was in her bed crying over him just an hour ago. And for some reason, in this moment, she has clarity. She needs to move on. Or atleast try. She feels hot tears running down her cheeks. She can't be doing this. She finally pulls away and he notices her tears.

"Why are you crying? Please don't cry, Brooke." He wraps his fingers around hers. She pulls her hand away and stands up, once again facing him. She isn't sure about what she's about to do. What she is sure of is that she loves him. She's in love with him. But for once in her life, she has to do what's best for _her. _She has to let him go_._

"We can't do this. It has to end, Luke. For good." He looks surpised at her words, and she wants to kick herself for giving him that hope that just left his eyes.

"What do you mean? I love you, Brooke. I love you so much. I can't be without you." He looks like he is about to cry.

"That's not true." She can barely speak through all of the sobs.

"It is. You know, and I know it. Please, Brooke." Why does he have to make it so much harder?

"You'll be okay, Lucas. You'll move on. You have to let me go. I need you to do that for me," she can barely see through the tears as he shakes his head, telling her that he can't. "you have to. When I turn around and walk away, you have to let me."

And she does just that.

And he lets her.

And for the first time in a long time, it really feels like it's over.


End file.
